The present invention relates to geriatric chair constructions, and in particular, it relates to a geriatric chair that provides easy patient entry and a safe, stable, restraint-free environment while the patient is in the chair.
In the past, geriatric or invalid chairs typically have included mechanical restraints to keep senior citizens or invalids from falling out of the chair while left unattended. However, such restraints have come under considerable criticism as inhumane, and even dangerous at times.
There has been considerable effort in developing invalid or geriatric chairs which provide for easy patient entry or exit of the chair. Examples of some of the simpler structures developed for geriatric or invalid chairs are found in the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ McCollough 1,534,796 Nelson 1,834,345 Mallett 2,065,233 Thornton 2,354,845 Kissell 2,487,880 Reinholz 2,722,967 Nobile 2,986,200 Weil et al 3,137,511 Gates 3,261,031 Ahrent et al 3,406,772 Dalton et al 3,712,671 Twitchell et al 4,268,054 Assanah et al 4,453,732 Runion et al 4,583,758 Britz 4,654,904 Grossfield 4,762,365 ______________________________________
Examples of more complicated structures can be found in the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Mott 1,698,344 Tracy 2,053,852 Perry 2,550,593 McLaughlin 2,751,027 Poulin 2,869,623 Bogart 3,091,426 Heyl, Jr. et al 3,138,402 Barabas 3,147,038 Stryker 3,158,398 Specketer 3,218,102 Gaffney 3,250,569 Yates et al 3,343,871 Burke 3,479,087 Rogol 3,532,353 McKee 3,596,991 Condon 3,623,767 Wrethander 3,787,089 Weant et al 3,807,795 Bogart 3,848,845 Cecchetti 3,865,050 Mashuda 3,964,786 Gaffney 4,007,960 Deucher 4,067,249 Deucher 4,076,304 Gaffney 4,083,599 Ferguson et al 4,141,094 Alvis 4,185,335 Shaffer 4,231,614 Andreasson 4,249,774 Taylor 4,300,249 DiVito 4,453,766 Wier et al 4,456,086 Morford 4,565,385 Schiller et al 4,632,455 Baker 4,779,881 Trkla 4,949,408 ______________________________________
Development has also occurred in foot rest structures for geriatric and invalid chairs. Examples of some foot rests are described in the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Steiger 1,917,557 Jones et al 3,379,450 Williams 4,593,929 Mulholland 4,966,379 Davis 4,974,905 Earls 4,997,200 ______________________________________
However, none of the structures shown or described in the above-mentioned U.S. patents provide a solution for an invalid or geriatric chair that provides easy entry or exit by the patient while providing a safe and stable restraint free environment when the patient is left unattended in the chair.